by Kali Argent
Cypher had taken on the responsibility of returning his brother’s body to Atrea. Xavian would have been content to let the asshole rot where he laid, but regardless of his actions, he had parents who loved him, who would mourn him. They, at least, deserved that much respect. Xavian hoped it brought them closure, even if they alone would grieve their son’s loss.
Claiming Aeryn as his own, binding their life forces together had healed his mate from the damage the nanites had caused, but the ordeal had left her tired and weak for days afterward. She’d slept for most of the journey home, and Xavian had been content to sit and watch over her while she rested.
Watching her slipping away from him had been terrifying, and he never wanted to experience anything like that again. Now that they were bound and her nanocytes deactivated, hopefully, he wouldn’t have to.
News of the Morphling rebellion against the Atreans had spread throughout the galaxies, reaching them on the Nightshade before they’d made it home. Many Crimnians still held prejudices against those with eyes like Deucalion, their superstitious beliefs driving their fear and bigotry, but the entire planet had been outraged about the kidnappings. Their fury over Asa’s hand in those abductions had led to the Crimnia government pledging their support to the war on Promena—this time, on the side of the Morphlings.
So far, the Nekros had decided not to involve themselves in the war, but Xavian didn’t think they’d be able to remain neutral for much longer. If the Morphlings asked for aid, he would go, and he would fight, with or without an army at his back. He’d do it, not for the glory, but because it was the right thing to do. He’d do it, because that was exactly what Aeryn would do, and every day, he strived to be just a little better, a little more deserving of her love.
“Wow,” Charli gasped from somewhere to his left. “She looks amazing.”
Like a beautiful, glorious angel, Aeryn descended the curving staircase, her smile bright enough to rival any sun. Her long locks cascaded down her back in spiraling, golden curls, and a sweet blush stained her cheeks as she waved to everyone below. Her dressed matched the rich green of her eyes, wrapping around her like a lover’s embrace before billowing out at her knees. A corset laced up the front of the gown from navel to sternum, exposing the soft swell of her breasts, and tiny, bright jewels dotted the thin material of the skirt.
Xavian couldn’t breathe. His dick swelled inside his leathers, straining hard against the button fly, and he had to take several deep, calming breaths to stop himself from charging up the stairs after her. It felt like it took an eternity for her to finally reach the last step and cross the foyer. She didn’t hesitate, walking straight into his arms with a happy purr that tripped his pulse once again.
“You look stunning, nikka.”
“You don’t look so bad yourself, handsome.”
He wore the standard uniform of the Pandora guard—leather pants, black, long-sleeved shirt, and thick-soled boots—nothing fancy or formal. Still, her compliment pleased him, and he melted beneath her appreciative gaze.
“Are you nervous?”
“Not at all. I’ve waited a long time for you, Xavian Tira. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
When the laughter and conversation died down, Xavian took his mate’s hands, holding them tightly in his own, and watched his entire future play out before him. He wanted it. Every part of it. He wanted the joy and frustration, the late-night talks and the inevitable disagreements.
He wanted it all.
“Captain Aeryn Chase,” he began, lifting his voice for all to hear him, “I promise to protect, honor, and cherish you. I will love you in this life and the next, until the stars fade from the sky. You will never be alone, will never want for anything.” Bending, he kissed a stray tear from her cheek, then rested his brow to hers. “You are my heart,” he whispered reverently, “my soul, my very breath. You are my everything. Do you accept me as your own?”
“Always,” Aeryn whispered back, her voice thick with emotion. “Always.”
Loud cheers echoed around the foyer as he lifted his hands to her neck. Brilliant red flames danced over his palm, pulsing with the quick beat of his heart. Carefully, so gently, he cupped his hands around her throat, grinning like a fool when his mark began to twist and twine over her creamy skin.
Pale, pink lines encircled her neck in intricate knots that trailed down to the hollow between her collar bones where they came together to form a simple sun—a circle with spiked rays—and their initials woven together in the center.
“Wow,” Aeryn breathed as she studied the mark in the mirror that hung in the small alcove beneath the staircase. “It’s perfect. It’s absolutely perfect.”
They wouldn’t always agree, and things wouldn’t always be as easy as they were now. Xavian was still a soldier, still bound to his sworn duty to protect his people. Aeryn had insisted she still wanted to fly, though she’d agreed on shorter runs unless Xavian could accompany her. They’d decided to keep her apartment in New Orleans for when they visited Earth, but their home would be on Nekron.
None of that mattered.
His love for her was boundless, his devotion without compromise, and his faith in her unconditional. He’d give up everything and follow her to the ends of the universe if she wanted it. For so long, he’d been searching for something he couldn’t name, but he hadn’t found it until the day he’d met Aeryn.
Now, he knew exactly where he belonged, and he finally had a word for what he’d been missing.
Now and forever…she was his home.
THE END
Continue reading for an excerpt from 3013: PRIMAL by Laurie Roma…
3013: PRIMAL
Copyright © Laurie Roma
Betrayal. It was a bitter notion to think of, let alone experience. It could change lives, or end them. Treachery broke people, shattering their trust into a thousand tiny pieces. But being deceived by someone of the same blood was so much worse.
It cut far deeper.
Lord Malik Rego felt the pain of that lesion in his heart and soul. His sister, Quilla, had destroyed countless lives, and their people had been stripped of their safety. She had not only betrayed him and their family name.
She had betrayed their entire world.
Known as the Dark Planet for their frequent electrical storms and dangerous inhabitants, Tartarus was a world that sat at the edge of Alliance-controlled space. Humans had named the Tarins the Lords of War, calling them barbaric demons that fed off the energy of others. It was true that they lived off the blood-lust they got from battle, or the energy and strength they received during sexual release, but energy exchanges were just a means of survival for Malik’s people, not a way to control or harm anyone.
Still, other races feared the unknown.
As one of the strongest Tarin lords on their world, Malik had sought to counter the damage done by his ancestors, but it seemed like for every step forward, there were several giant steps back. He alone had seen the need to form an agreement with the other known races, and for years he had sought to make the other lords understand that they were in jeopardy of becoming obsolete if they didn’t keep up with technological advances.
But Tarins hated change, and they too feared what they did not understand.
Before the formation of the Alliance, humans had traveled the stars searching for signs of life on other planets. Several vessels had been sent out into deep space to explore, and their directives had been to study and analyze before making contact with any alien race. They had also been instructed to avoid primitive races without the technology to match that of Earth, and to observe without interfering.
All those directives had been violated when human ships had landed on Tartarus.
The crew of the first ship to arrive had logged information about the planet into their database, studying it from afar. As they had scanned the various mountain ranges, they had realized that the mineral ore contained within the mountains was a stronger power source than th
e one they had been using. The captain of that ship had contacted two other vessels, waiting for them to arrive before they had landed on Tartarus.
The Tarins had seen their arrival as an act of war.
As far as historical records went, humans and Tarins had different recollections of what had happened. The story that had been passed down the Rego family legacy had been that the humans had invaded, stolen the ore, and killed the Tarins on sight. Humans had stated that the Tarins had just attacked as soon as the ships had landed.
Malik figured it had probably been a combination of both stories.
Piecing together recollections from the descendants of those who had been there, it sounded like the Tarin version was more accurate, but he believed the Tarins had probably planned to kill the invaders as soon as the ships had been spotted no matter why the humans were there.
In truth, most Tarins didn’t need a reason to kill.
Still, the Tarins’ swords had been no match for the humans’ more advanced weaponry and technology, but for the first time in their lives, the Tarins had been fighting a common enemy. Their strength of will and force of numbers had made the humans retreat, and only one of those ships had left Tartarus, however, not with a full crew.
Hundreds of Tarins had died, and that had bred a hatred for outsiders.
A few years later, Earth had contacted Tartarus again. The humans had apologized for the loss of lives during the previous battle. Malik wasn’t sure if they had expected the same in return, but it didn’t matter. The Tarins had wanted no part of any pact with the humans, and they had closed off their planet, choosing to remain isolated instead of allowing any other species on Tartarus.
Though, Malik had sought to change that.
After the war with Earth, the Tarins had sheltered the remaining females, but over the years that had altered from protection into something corrupted by greed and self-indulgence. The lords had begun priding themselves on having harems of females to show who was most powerful, and that had led to the enslavement of not just Tarin females, but females from any race they could capture.
Malik Rego had been born into a new generation who fought against the old ways. When he’d become lord after his father’s death, Malik had formed the Coalition of Eight with his friend, Lord Jaden Tor, and six other lords to fight against those who enslaved females. After some convincing, Malik had also persuaded the coalition to agree to a treaty the next time Earth contacted them.
Time had brought many changes to both races over the years, though, Earth had evolved far more than the Tarins the next time they met. Earth had experienced their own war when the Zyphir, a colony race of insect-like creatures, had attacked. And in the aftermath of that war, the United Federation Command Alliance had been formed.
On behalf of the Tarins, Malik pushed to form a tentative truce with the Alliance. They agreed to trade technology and credits for the mineral ore the Alliance used in their high-powered jump drives installed on their space vessels. Despite being more military based, the humans hadn’t wanted to form a full treaty with the Tarins, not with the civil war raging on Tartarus, but they had been willing to offer aid.
Not that the other lords would have accepted.
Malik had allowed an Alliance outpost to be built on the far end of his land, nestled against the side of a mountain. From the air, it looked like a small, circular city with large stone walls built around it for protection from invaders, but the truth was that it had been built that way to keep the humans inside.
Visitors were only let out of the Hades Outpost if a group of Rego’s warriors escorted them, and only after they received permission from Malik himself. He had seen the benefit of keeping all visitors under close supervision on his land, but it also gave him direct access to the Alliance, and allowed him to keep track of what they were doing. His goal had been to bring Tartarus into the new age, and the only way to do that would be to have relations with the other races.
And he had been right. Everything had changed.
Malik always had a talent for maneuvering through complicated situations, but he’d never realized that his sister had inherited the same skill. Only, she had used hers to create a criminal empire that had brought shame down on all of them.
Now, Malik was sitting in a large sitting room on the vessel the Alliance had given him years ago, searching the stars for Quilla so he could make her pay for her crimes.
It had come as quite a shock to the other Tarins that Malik had possessed the ship. It would have been considered outdated if the Dragon Warriors hadn’t used their magic to upgrade it, but now, the sleek vessel was something advanced far beyond anything the humans had, and it all but ran itself. They had made everything extremely easy on the Tarins, most of whom hadn’t ever traveled in space before. The entire ship was operated by voice command, and every luxury had been provided onboard.
The Dragon Warriors were a powerful race who wielded magic with a thought and could shift into their dragon forms to fly the skies. Change had come to Tartarus when Dragon Warrior Katra Tesera had come home with Jaden Tor.
And her brothers hadn’t been far behind.
First, Ryker and Killian Tesera had come for a visit, then Xavier and Galan Tesera, and Thorn and Brydan Volis had visited with their mate, Alexis. Well, they weren’t actually visiting anymore, since they had created a castle of their own on Tor land to stay close to Katra, much to Jaden’s dismay.
Alexis had just given birth to Gideon and Kadan Tesera, so they would be sticking around since their babies wouldn’t come into their magic for a few years. However, Ryker and Killian had thankfully returned to their home world. They would be back, though, and Tartarus would have to be on guard since they didn’t like following any rules.
With so many Dragon Warriors roaming around Tartarus, it was probably the safest place in the universe besides their home world of Arcadia. All of them had been extracting information from the slavers captured so far, and Malik was sure they would be able to get more information from any that hadn’t been caught yet. The civil war might have ended, but for Malik, it wouldn’t truly be finished until Quilla was dead.
After discovering that his sister was behind the slave trade on Tartarus, Malik had found a wrist unit hidden beneath a floorboard in her quarters. All data had been wiped from it…or so she’d thought.
The Dragon Warriors had used their magic to retrieve a list of names from the wrist unit. After Malik reached out to his contact within the Alliance, a Strike Force Team had been sent to round up the eighteen elites in league with Quilla, while another team had been sent to search for the mercenaries on that list.
One of the contacts on the list had been a lieutenant that had transferred from the Hades Outpost to Alpha Station: X5 several months ago. Malik went straight to X5 after leaving Tartarus, since he’d known that particular elite. The lieutenant had been detained until they got there, and they’d also found two officers who had been paid a lot of credits to wipe the system when they didn’t want certain ships that stopped there on record.
When confronted, the officers had instantly given in, and one of them had even started sobbing. Malik and the other Tarins had been disgusted, and they had gladly left the two officers in the hands of Commander Valerie Giarro and her two Helios mates.
The lieutenant had showed no remorse for what he’d done to help Quilla over the years. When the man had tried to get away, Malik admitted that he’d lost his temper when he’d run the man through with his sword…five times. It wasn’t like the traitor would be missed. He was just a pawn in a sick, twisted game. All of the humans said they’d been working for Korsek due to the credits he’d paid them. The sad reality was that Quilla had only been using the name Korsek to run her operation.
She was a female who had been selling other females.
Malik had been prepared to search every space station and planet until he found Quilla, but it would have been like searching for a single drop of water in the ocean. They had been close t
o X3 when Jaden had contacted them to let them know that Quilla had just been sighted on New Vega…and she had left more destruction in her wake.
“You’ve gone quiet, brother.”
Turning his head away from his view of the stars, Malik look over at Darius and Iolas Rego, two of the warriors that had come on the voyage with him. It had been another week’s journey to New Vega, and they were almost there. Perhaps it was knowing that he would have to face the repercussions from what Quilla had done that had him so tense, or maybe it was being stuck in an enclosed space for days that had him so on edge.
“Hellfire, how did I not see it?”
It was a question Malik had asked repeatedly. They had spent the first week after discovering Quilla’s treachery searching Tartarus, to no avail. He’d wanted to believe she hadn’t left the planet, but all the signs said she had taken a ship she’d stashed away just like he had. The similarities between them were uncomfortable to think about, but he hoped to use it against her as he continued to search for her.
“If you keep blaming yourself, I will have to strike you,” Darius said darkly.
Malik knew he wouldn’t, though. Not unless they were training together. Like Aldric—his second-in-command who had stayed home on Tartarus to look after Rego Palace—Iolas and Darius had been born to females in the harem Malik’s father had kept in chains. Many of the warriors in Thallen Rego’s inner circle had shared females, but Malik’s father kept his favorites away from the others.
Darius was a few years older, but had never held the circumstances of his birth against Malik. Instead, he had been a loyal friend and brother since the day Malik had taken his first breath. It was just speculation, but Malik had noticed the way Darius looked at some of the other males. He couldn’t help but wonder if that was the reason Darius was on the training field more than any other warrior instead of bedding the willing females in the palace.